Chaka Fattah

Chaka Fattah
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1995 – June 23, 2016
Preceded byLucien Blackwell
Succeeded byDwight Evans
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 7th district
In office
January 3, 1989 – August 31, 1994
Preceded byFreeman Hankins
Succeeded byVincent Hughes
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 192nd district
In office
January 4, 1983 – November 30, 1988
Preceded byNick Pucciarelli
Succeeded byLouise Bishop
Personal details
Born
Arthur Wesley Davenport

(1956-11-21) November 21, 1956 (age 68)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseRenee Chenault
Children4
EducationCommunity College of Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania (BA, MPA)
Chaka Fattah's voice
Chaka Fattah speaks in support of FY2014 appropriations
Recorded January 15, 2014

Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Wesley Davenport;[1][2] November 21, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 2016. The district included portions of North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and West Philadelphia along with Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County. He previously served in the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Currently, Fattah serves as the President and CEO of Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors, a consulting firm dedicated towards advancing brain science and health research, and Chair of the National Brain Council.

On July 29, 2015, Fattah and a group of associates were indicted on federal charges related to their alleged roles in a racketeering and influence peddling conspiracy.[3][4] He was convicted on 23 counts of racketeering, fraud, and other corruption charges on June 21, 2016, and resigned two days later.[5] On December 12, 2016, Fattah was sentenced to 10 years in prison.[6][7] On August 9, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia overturned Fattah's bribery convictions.[8] On July 12, 2019, a Philadelphia judge sentenced Fattah to 10 years in federal prison for public corruption.[9][10] He was released from prison in the summer of 2020.[11][12]

  1. ^ "Fattah, Chaka". history.house.gov. US House of Representatives. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  2. ^ McCalla, Jay (August 7, 2015). "Chaka Fattah's indictment means Curtis Jones Jr., Cindy Bass and Blondell Reynolds Brown need to make powerful new friends". Philadelphia Magazine.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference fbi2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Chaka Fattah indictment, full text". CNN. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  5. ^ "Rep. Chaka Fattah resigns after conviction, effective immediately" (Press release). CBS. June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  6. ^ "The Latest: Ex-Rep. Chaka Fattah sentenced to 10 years". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 13, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  7. ^ "Former Congressman Chaka Fattah Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Participating in Racketeering Conspiracy". US Department of Justice. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  8. ^ "Precedential United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit" (PDF). August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  9. ^ "Former Philly lawmaker Chaka Fattah gets same punishments at resentencing hearing". WHYY. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  10. ^ Roebuck, Jeremy (July 12, 2019). "Ex-U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah sentenced again to 10 years in prison". inquirer.com. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Brennan, Chris (July 15, 2020). "Former Philly U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah came home early from prison. Federal officials won't say why". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  12. ^ "Chaka Fattah Sr. Has Mysteriously Been Released from Federal Prison Way Early". Philadelphia Magazine. July 15, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2022.